Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured image by Sarjoun Faour (Flickr)
Students, activists and legal scholars came together to discuss the Ghomeshi verdict, the accessibility of the criminal justice system for sexual assault survivors and exploring alternative options for survivors.
“The York Federation of Students in partnership with Samina Sami from the Community Safety Department at York University thought it was important to put together a panel and healing space for survivors and community members,” says Chenthoori Malankov, YFS president.
“This was accomplished by providing educational awareness on the judicial implications of sexual violence, if survivors choose to engage in that path, and how we as a community can be supported,” she adds.
Malankov acknowledges that many students are unaware of York’s sexual assault policies and other supportive resources.
“We have always partnered with the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Support Line and Leadership (SASSL) during Frosh Week and have conducted presentations for students on how to create safer spaces for folks on campus. And more importantly we are committed to engaging in conversations on how to create consent culture on campus,” she says.
Malankov emphasizes the need for youth to be at the forefront of the movements to combat sexual and gender-based violence and to recognize that racialized and indigenous women are left out of the narrative.
Freeyelle Mehari, an organizer with the Canadian Federation of Students, concurs on the issue of underrepresentation of women of colour and Aboriginals in the reporting of sexual assault cases.
“When black women come forward, we are not believed. We’re fighting against this narrative that exists in society, especially in pop culture that black women are hyper-sexualized and willing participants,” she says.
“It’s assumed that we are always wanting, willing and able,” she adds.
Mehari also cites the poor relationship between black people and law enforcement along with the pervasiveness of white-centric services as potential reasons of under-reporting.
When it comes to addressing this issue, Mehari says institutions, especially in practice and in their policies, must address factors other than sexism that contribute to sexual violence. Organizing against rape culture and promoting consent on campuses without a commitment to deconstructing complex ways that race, gender, physical ability, religion, age, economics and sexual orientation influence how survivors and their communities experience rape.
“Second, our colleges and universities need to create survivor-centric and trauma-informed systems that encourage reporting,” she adds.
“We need to believe survivors when they come forward. We need to provide them with culturally sensitive support.”
